The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians to desist from using unauthorised cosmetics and dangerous chemicals for bleaching of the skin to enhance their beauty.
At the two-day retreat by the agency’s Top Management Committee in Lagos over the weekend, the Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye expressed shock in the proliferation of unauthorised chemicals which beauticians engaged in with the intention of applying them on their unsuspecting clients.
A statement signed by NAFDAC’s Resident Media Consultant, Mr Sayo Akintola quoted Adeyeye as lamenting that majority of Spa outlets in the nation’s cosmopolitan cities are culpable of the unhealthy practice of mixing chemicals and natural products like pawpaw and carrot to make creams for their clients.
She said that these are thereafter packaged, labeled, and sold online to clients.
The NAFDAC DG lamented that the Spa owners have gone further to influence some clinics with medical doctors joining to carry out these nefarious activities which has advanced to include injected substances vitamin C infusion and glutathione on clients.
Explaining further, Adeyeye stated that the challenge in the enforcement of the agency’s safety regulations on bleaching agents at Spas and other beauty parlours is that the products are prepared extemporaneously and covertly for individual clients and therefore, the offending products can rarely be found on the shelves of these facilities.
But she warned that anyone apprehended by the NAFDAC would be prosecuted and jailed, if convicted.
Adeyeye disclosed that most of the products used in the mixes are smuggled into the country and are unregistered, citing formulations containing Kojic Acid, and Hydroquinone that are above their permissible limits in the formulations, which are at risk of causing harm. She recalled that it was for the same safety reasons that the use of mercury was banned in cosmetics.
The NAFDAC boss said: “We don’t just ban products because they are bleaching agents but are prohibited because of safety issues surrounding particular ingredients in the products as they could cause skin cancer as well as damage the liver and kidney.
She warned that lightening of skin today could be end up in cancer tomorrow, and noted that many of the importers smuggle the products into the country under the guise of global listing to bypass NAFDAC inspection, adding that bleaching has become a pandemic amongst both women and their male counterparts.
Adeyeye further disclosed that the agency is on the heels of those who engage in online sales of dangerous unauthorised cosmetics and other products, adding that NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate has been given the directive to apprehend merchants of these dangerous products and bring them to book.
She said that the agency is not against the use of cosmetics, insisting, however, that they must be regulated and confirmed safe for human use.
She said that NAFDAC must uphold its mandate of citizens protection by ensuring that the quality and safety of goods produced internally and imported into the country go through processes that meet global best practices.
